Jason Kelce says Eagles leaders need to be accountable by doing their jobs, and lifting up others
This isn't the situation Kelce or very many others expected the team to be facing, but the center said expectations don't matter.
As the Eagles try to free themselves from last weekend’s Miami miasma and keep their season alive, leadership is going to come under scrutiny.
“I think as a leader, you just take accountability. That’s what leadership is. Leadership is taking accountability yourself and holding others to the same standard, regardless of what’s going on,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said Wednesday, in a locker room that was graced by only a few players during media availability.
“To be honest, I don’t think that’s any different this week than it was last week. I just think that weak leaders stop doing that, and they start pointing fingers ... Strong leaders hold strong, and they remain accountable. They try and lift others up, take things off of other people’s shoulders, put more on theirs. That’s what a good leader is. That’s what I’m all about, and I think that’s what the majority of guys in here are about.”
Kelce said you can point fingers, internally, as long as everyone is being held to the same standard. “Then it doesn’t come off as pointing fingers,” he said, it comes off as upholding standards.
Asked if he was surprised to be in this situation, Kelce said he did not envision being 5-7 back when the season began, but expectations don’t matter now, all that matters is winning these last four games.
Kick return option joins practice squad
The Eagles signed cornerback and kick returner Tremon Smith to their practice squad Wednesday, releasing practice squad safety Chris Johnson.
Smith was a sixth-round pick of the Chiefs last season who returned 33 kickoffs for them, averaging 26.8 yards per return. Released early this season, he caught on with the Packers, and returned 13 kicks, for a 23.3-yard average, but was recently waived.
Kansas City also experimented with Smith at running back in training camp.